Beating the Apocalypse - A collective mind?

12:01 am, December 22, 2012.

Made it. Whew!

Yesterday we were told horrible things would happen to the world because the Mayan calendar corresponded with a 26,000 year alignment of the center of our galaxy. We were told it corresponds to a 26,000 year alignment with the central star of the Pleiades constellation. All of this, NASA says, is an astronomical impossibility and, in any event, utterly irrelevant. Sure enough, here we are.

Aside from the apocalyptic hucksters making a buck from the gullible, why do people believe in end-of-world myths?

Is there really is a subtle, yet real, shared consciousness - or perhaps collective experience - that connects us? The doom-and-gloom crowd tap into it whenever a Mayan type event shows up.

After years working in neighborhoods, especially with groups who share a vision for a safer future, I believe such a thing exists. I don't know if it is psychological, spiritual, or political. But it can work in our favor as much as it can convince people of the Apocalypse.

The video above is an example. May we use it for positive things in 2013. Happy holidays.

The end of the world as we know it

The magazine Popular Mechanics calls end of the world predictions "a fools errand"

With apologies, I lifted that title from the rock group REM and their great song "It's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)".

Tonight I walked a trail in San Mateo, California and saw an intensely lit warehouse wall covered in graffiti. Over the years I've been told lighting stops crime. I've been told if you cut robbery here, it just moves there. I've been told more cops means less crime.

These are myths disproven by scientific evidence. They lack diagnosis and proof. Proof doesn't matter to myth-makers and myth-believers. It's not truth they seek, but fantasy.

Myths have power because, like all matters of blind faith, they rely on looking the other way when evidence intervenes. They rely on blindness.

My favorite? End-of-the-world myths. I have no doubt the world will end, probably in a billion or so years when the sun runs out. But the Mayan calendar, so we're told, prophesizes our doom this year on December 21. We have until December 21 to tie up loose ends and say goodbye. How will this happen? By a comet (that doesn't exist), by a rogue planet (that hasn't been found)...whatever.

In response to the witchy-woo-woo crackpots the real Mayan descendants are outraged by the hype. "We are speaking out against deceit, lies and twisting of the truth, and turning us into folklore-for-profit" says one.

NASA has systematically debunked Mayan apocalypse myths. "For any claims of disaster or dramatic changes in 2012, where is the science? There is none."

The best debunker is the Australian Prime Minister who spoofed apocalypse stories with her news announcement to say goodbye. I love a politician with a sense of humor.

See you on the 22nd.